Overview
If you are having trouble migrating your website from another host, or just don't have the time, DreamHost currently offers a service that takes care of that for you. You can find more information in the DreamHost Website migration services article.
Migrating a WordPress site is different from migrating a simple HTML website because WordPress sites depend on both web files as well as a MySQL database to run. This overview explains your options depending on the type of migration your site requires.
Changing your WordPress domain name
You may need to change the domain for your WordPress site or transfer a site to a different domain you are already hosting with DreamHost. This happens if you are using a different domain name, or moving a site from a staging or test site to a live, production site. DreamHost offers two easy ways to change a WordPress domain:
Option 1 — Use the rename tool in your DreamHost panel
DreamHost provides a tool in your Manage Websites panel page that allows you to change the domain of any WordPress site. View the following article for more information on using the tool:
Option 2 — Let DreamHost rename your site for you
DreamHost offers a Professional Microservice to change your site URL for you. View the following article for more information on the service:
Moving a WordPress site to another DreamHost account
In some circumstances, you may want to move a site to a different DreamHost account, such as when you transfer ownership of a site to a new developer or individual. DreamHost provides two methods for doing so:
Option 1 — Let DreamHost move your site for you
DreamHost's Professional Microservices can move your site between accounts for you. View the following article for more information on the service:
Option 2 — Manually move your site
You can manually move your site data between accounts using the tools provided in the DreamHost panel. Read the following article for instructions on this process:
Migrating a WordPress site from a different host
If you are migrating a WordPress site from a different hosting company (host), there are many different options available to you. Here are some of the more popular methods from which you can choose:
Option 1 (Easy) — Use the DreamHost Automated Migration WordPress plugin
The DreamHost Automated Migration Plugin allows you to easily migrate your site to your DreamHost server. For more information about the plugin, see the following article:
Option 2 (Easy) — Let DreamHost migrate your site for you
DreamHost's Professional Microservices can migrate your site from your old host. For more information about the service, see the following article:
Option 3 (Advanced) — Manually migrate your site
Using a combination of SFTP and phpMyAdmin, you can move your site files and MySQL backup to DreamHost. For more information about the process, see the following article:
Transfer a domain registration to DreamHost
Transferring your domain registration, while not strictly necessary to move a site's hosting, is often a step in the migration process. The following article walks through the entire transfer process:
Troubleshooting: PHP files downloading after a migration
In some circumstances, a site migrated to DreamHost from another hosting provider will not load correctly. When accessing the site, the browser will download a PHP file rather than display the webpage. This is typically caused by leftover code from the old hosting provider, most commonly the presence of an AddHandler entry in the site's .htaccess file like the example below:
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php
This code is not needed on DreamHost's servers and should be removed from the WordPress .htaccess file after the site is migrated over.
